Microsoft Corp. has acquired JunctionMCR, the suite of multichannel software solutions from Junction Solutions designed specifically for the Microsoft Dynamics AX platform.
JunctionMCR is an enterprise app suite designed to provide retailers with cross-channel visibility between stores, the web site, catalog and call center. Built directly within Microsoft Dynamics AX, the solution offers functionality for managing merchandising, pricing and promotions, customer service, inventory, direct store delivery options and more.
“Microsoft has been focusing seriously on building out its retail solutions,” said Jeff Grell, CEO of Junction Solutions, in an interview with Retail TouchPoints. “First it was multichannel retail, and now they’ve moved to omnichannel retail.”
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The purchase of JunctionMCR will allow Microsoft to add a “direct-to-consumer” component, which Junction Solutions has established over the past decade, Grell noted. With the transaction, JunctionMCR will be directly integrated into the Microsoft Dynamics 2012 R3 release, which will be available through Microsoft’s direct sales team and channel partners.
Because Microsoft Dynamics AX and JunctionMCR will now be sold as a complete, integrated solution, retailers will only need to purchase a single piece, which makes operations “less cumbersome and complicated,” Grell said. “Our customers want to buy from Microsoft, but now, there’s no additional support fees or need for additional components. It’s one streamlined application.”
The transaction also will enable Junction Solutions to focus on innovating and further improving its core product offering.
“Now we can focus on specific pieces of functionality for direct-to-consumer retail,” Grell explained. The company will be focusing primarily on business intelligence, predictive marketing and a variety of components around trade promotion management for the retail space, which will help Microsoft “serve the broader CPG and retail segment that needs this type of functionality.”
